sunday reading
Yep, we were biased, writes the Washington Post ombudsman:
The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.
Mourning the rise of Republican populism:
There was a time when conservative intellectuals raised the level of American public debate and helped to keep it sober. Those days are gone. As for political judgment, the promotion of Sarah Palin as a possible world leader speaks for itself. The Republican Party and the political right will survive, but the conservative intellectual tradition is already dead. And all of us, even liberals like myself, are poorer for it.
Maureen Dowd reminds us to thank W:
But now we have the delicious irony that a white president from a patrician family, whose administration was so negligent about America’s poor and black citizens, was so incompetent that he helped elect the first black president.
As Andrew Young told Stephen Colbert, “The world got so messed up nobody else wanted to really tackle it so then they turned it over to us.”
1) no surprise there – the msm is mostly favors democrats and will not do the tough investigating required. I am still amazed with Obama’s past associations that he won. Of course the Clinton’s have some shady associations too – crickets mostly from the MSM on either.
2) The conservative intellect is still there. Compassionate conservatism is a farce – just big spending and big government. It helped the Democrats win in 2006 & 2008.
3) I don’t think this country will ever get to the point of judging a man by his character and not by his skin color. As seen in the adulation of Obama chiefly because he is black it seems not due to ideas that are new or will get the country on the right track. I know as the first black president it is amazing and historical, but going forward I hope all people can be judged on character and not their skin color.
IC Atlanta
November 9, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Everything they ae saying about Palin, they said about Bush and Reagan.
I am not saying that either is the equal to Reagan, intellectually or politically. Just that there is a template at work here. Democrats are intelligent and nuanced, Republicans are not. Never mind that Senator Nuance made had a lower IQ (why he wouldn’t release his Naval records) and received lower grades in the same school as W. Facts don’t matter, agenda does.
Kudos to the Washington Post for admitting their bias, but the phrase ” a day late and a dollar short” comes to mind.
DaleC
November 11, 2008 at 4:44 pm
This isn’t about grades or SAT scores, it’s about being able to answer simple questions about what books you read or your assessment of the bailout. It’s about presenting a cogent view of the world and America’s place in it.
I wouldn’t say Bush or Palin are stupid. But they do play to that crowd, unashamedly. And of course that makes me an elitist.
I’m not a Republican, so do as you want (though I prefer two strong parties). Palin would be a disaster, but at least you’ll carry Alabama and Mississippi.
atlmalcontent
November 11, 2008 at 4:57 pm
There is no “you” for me as I am not a Republican.
A cogent view? Like Biden? hahahaha
Since 1980, the knock on Republican candidates is that they are not bright, yet dumbass Democrat after dumbass Democrat is held up as some enlightned being when they actually have average intellectual ability (Gore, Kerry, Biden, Franken, etc).
Bush and Palin play to a dumb crowd? Are you aware that Republicans voters have higher levels of education (hgh school and college graduation) than Democrats? Playing to a dumb crowd is saying that you are going to give a tax cut to 95% of Americans, when fully 45% of Americans don’t pay any net income taxes. Playing to a dumb crowd is saying “he isn’t the man I knew” for 20 years. Playing to a dumb crowd is talking about bitter people who cling to God and guns.
DaleC
November 11, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Every time I bring up a reasonable complaint about the GOP, the answer is usually “oh yeah, well, the Democrats are worse.” Be defensive at your peril.
The stats speak for themselves. They’re losing young voters — almost 2-to-1 in this election. College-educated voters are much more likely to vote Democratic than ever before. Hispanics are also fleeing.
I don’t think the GOP grasps the trouble they face.
atlmalcontent
November 11, 2008 at 6:36 pm